Drowning Fears
by inizhay
Summary: Lucy rejects Cana's affections, and Juvia is tired of pining over Gray. Maybe they have another option? Cana x Juvia, with a pinch of Graylu. Lemon-y one-shot.
**A/N: So, this is my first attempt at a lemon. Yay? I'm a little nervous, so please show some love if you like it. Unlike Cobra, I can't read souls, so I only know what you're thinking if you tell me! Oh, and this isn't really based on the song, but _Same Old Love_ by Selena Gomez kept popping into my head while I was writing this. Enjoy :)**

* * *

Cana sighed into her mug. This was just fucking great. She flinched every time the guild doors opened, afraid it would be the blonde coming in. Cana could have hidden away at home, but she knew that not coming to the guild would alert everyone that something was off with the card mage. She could have taken a job, but her mind wasn't in the right state to actually handle something. No, all she could do was suck it up and deal with seeing Lucy after last night.

For once, the alcohol wasn't appealing for her. In a way, her favorite pastime had landed her in this mess in the first place. She wanted nothing more than to drink herself into oblivion, but she was finding it difficult to choke down even a swallow of the liquid.

She glanced around the hall, and come to think of it, she didn't see Natsu or Gray anywhere, either. Maybe the team went on a job? Oh Mavis, that would be a godsend. It would give her more time before she had to face the celestial mage. She thought about asking Mira to confirm, but she didn't want to draw attention to herself. But just the thought of a reprieve brought back her inclination for drinking. Within an hour, Cana was three sheets to the wind, and she was loving it. She laid her head on the bar with a sigh of contentment. She didn't notice when someone joined her.

"Can Juvia ask you a question?" A lilting voice inquired. Cana lifted her head slightly to view the nervous water mage.

"Sure, ask away," Cana said with only a slight slur to her voice.

"Juvia wants to know, if, if you have ever had to deal with love that is not returned," Juvia said. And just like that, Cana's contentment vanished. She stared into her empty mug and gestured to Mira for another.

"Yeah, I've had that," Cana said tonelessly. Mira gave her a look of concern, but she filled the mug anyway.

"How does one deal with it?" Juvia asked.

"Well, I tend to just get really really drunk," Cana said. She took a long drink from her mug.

"Oh, Juvia understands," the blue-haired girl said, though her voice stated that she clearly didn't. Gaining a look of determination, she continued, "Will Cana help Juvia to get really really drunk?"

Cana just blinked at the other girl for a moment before a wide grin crossed her face.

"You want me to teach you how to get plastered? Oh hell, yeah. Let's do this!"

"Cana, it's only noon," Mira said with a sigh.

"This is an emergency, Mira," the card mage managed to say without slurring. "I always help a friend in need, and my friend Juvia needs to forget something, so start pouring, Demon."

Mira hmmphed at her, but she brought Juvia a mug, as well.

Three hours later, Cana was having trouble forming sentences, but Juvia was bubbling all over the place. Literally bits of water bubbles were popping off her skin before returning to her as she chattered excitedly. She even dropped the third person sentence structure, for which Cana was extremely grateful.

"Why have I been so concerned? Who cares if Gray doesn't love me as I love him? I love my guild, and Gajeel, and I love you," Juvia declared loudly.

Macao was busy handling a betting pool over how long it would take drunk-Juvia to turn on the waterworks over Gray. Cana was a bit miffed, as she was usually the one handling that sort of thing, but she let it slide for now. She'd get Macao back later.

"Dunno," Cana said. "Can't say I see the appeal, really. I mean, I guess he's kind of hot, for a dude."

"Yes, precisely!" Juvia waved her hands for emphasis, forgetting that she was still holding a mostly full mug. A large amount ended up on her dress, but Juvia just giggled.

"You shouldn't sit in wet clothes," Cana said. Secretly she was also thinking that she had done her job a little too well, and the blue-haired girl had probably had enough. "Here, I'll help you back to the Hills, and you can get changed."

"That's a wonderful idea!" Juvia proclaimed. At least she was a happy drunk, Cana thought. There was some grumbling as the two left, leaning heavily on each other. Only Gajeel laughed in triumph as he had been the only one to bet that the rainwoman wouldn't cry at all. There were perks to being best friends with someone, he thought as he collected his winnings, like having insider information and past experience that pointed to his friend not being as affected by Gray as her stalker tendencies suggested.

The trip to Fairy Hills passed in a blink for the drunk women. Cana intended to just leave Juvia at her door, but the water mage had other ideas.

"Stay, Cana!" She exclaimed. "I want to talk, and drink more!"

"Well, I do have a couple bottles in my room," Cana admitted. "I'll get them and then come back here."

Juvia nodded and opened her door, when Cana caught a glimpse of all the Gray paraphernalia piled around, she changed her mind and told Juvia to just come to her room when she was changed.

Cana had finished half a bottle of wine by the time Juvia made it to her. She was surprised that the blue-haired woman had changed into a black negligee with a sheer matching robe. She listened to Juvia ramble on happily as she took intermittent swigs from the bottle. Cana wished she had Juvia's happy drunk right now. Sitting here with Juvia reminded her too much of the previous evening with Lucy. Cana didn't notice as a single tear slid down her cheek until Juvia reached over to brush it away, absorbing the liquid into her skin.

"Why are you crying, Cana?" Juvia asked. Cana wanted to brush off the question, but something told her to open up to the other woman.

"Because the person I love doesn't love me," she muttered to her knees, which she had drawn up to her chest some time ago.

"I understand that," Juvia whispered. "But I have to wonder, is it really love? I've been telling myself that I love Gray for so long, but do I? Am I merely grateful to him for helping me finally see the sun?"

Cana didn't know how to respond to that. They sat silent for some time with the wine forgotten on the table.

"May I ask? Who do you love?" Juvia asked

"Lucy," Cana whispered. "I told her. Last night. We got drunk. Right here. She was upset over something with Natsu, so I told her we should have a girl's night. I kissed her. I didn't want to hide how I felt anymore. But she, she didn't respond at all. And when I pulled away, she told me she was in love with someone else."

"She loves Gray doesn't she?" Juvia said. Cana just nodded. Juvia sighed. "I knew. I knew for a while that he had feelings for her, too. I just didn't want to let him go. But, what if I'm wrong about my feelings anyway?"

"I wish I could say the same," Cana said. She'd admired the blonde since the moment Lucy joined the guild. During the S-Class trials, Cana realized it was more than admiration for her friend. She was crazy about the blond bombshell. Head over heels.

"Maybe," Juvia said hesitantly as she moved closer to the brunette, "Maybe you just need to see that there are other options."

"Like who?" Cana said with a snort. She was still staring at her knees, so she didn't realize how close the water mage was until Juvia's hand lifted her chin to press a gentle kiss to her lips. A million emotions roiled within Cana in the brief moments that their lips were pressed together. When Juvia pulled back, it felt entirely too soon. Without thinking, Cana leaned forward to capture another kiss.

A tiny voice whispered that this wasn't a good idea. Juvia would hate her for it when she sobered up. Cana tried to pull back at the thought, but Juvia wasn't having any of that. Cana found herself pushed onto her back on the floor with the blue-haired woman straddling her hips. Juvia pulled back only long enough to whisper, "Let's forget together."

It was the only encouragement Cana needed. Her hands came up to untie the sheer robe. She slid her hands along the bluenette's hips and lightly up her sides until she reached her shoulders, where Cana pushed aside the thin material. Juvia's curves filled out the tiny black negligee to perfection with her blue guildmark visible on her smooth thigh. Cana lightly trailed her fingers down Juvia's arms, and Juvia mimicked the motion on Cana.

Cana's mouth went dry as she moved to sit up with Juvia still in her lap. She leaned forward to run her lips over Juvia's collarbone and nip lightly along the ridge. Juvia sighed softly, and Cana moved up her neck before slowly trailing kisses down her chest. Cana gently nudged the straps of the negligee down so that the fabric dipped low, barely covering Juvia's chest at all. She glanced up to see the bluenette's face flushed with her eyelids drooping as a shiver ran through her. She had noticed before that Juvia was beautiful, but she had never imagined she could look like this. Well, not _exactly_ this.

Cana dipped her head to run her tongue just above the edge of the negligee. Juvia moaned and pressed her chest forwards. Cana repeated the action on the other side before carefully sliding the fabric completely down so the straps where removed and the fabric pooled around Juvia's waist. She had definitely never imagined this. Juvia usually wore so much clothing that it was impossible to tell just how good her figure was, and now, Cana wanted a completely unobstructed view. She pushed Juvia back to the floor and pulled the negligee the rest of the way off down her legs. The water mage wasn't wearing anything underneath.

She sucked in a breath and briefly wondered if Juvia had been planning this whole thing.

"Please," Juvia whispered, her eyes brimming with desire.

"Please what?" Cana whispered huskily as she crawled up the woman's naked body to hover her lips over hers.

"I want to see you," Juvia whispered. Her hands came up to play with the ties on Cana's swimsuit top. Cana moved her long hair aside to give Juvia better access. Juvia quickly undid the ties before tossing the article aside. Her hands trailed lazily down Cana's body; her thumbs skimmed over the nipples, making Cana gasp, before continuing down her sides to the buttons on her capris. Cana had to stand to actually remove them, and she was glad she was going commando, as well.

Juvia hopped up as Cana dropped the pants to the floor. Juvia pressed her body fully into Cana as she attacked her lips. Their hands roamed all over one another until Cana suddenly turned and flattened them both onto the bed with their legs hanging over the side. She pushed up onto her arms and grinned down at the water mage.

"You can still back out," Cana said. She didn't really want to stop, but she was so not going to take advantage of the blue-haired woman.

"I don't want to stop," Juvia said, her breath coming out in short gasps. "I have wondered… What it would be like…"

Cana gaped at her. Juvia had thought of her like this before? Frustrated, Juvia pushed up on her elbows and slammed her mouth over Cana's. She backed off enough to whisper, "Show me what it's like," before pressing back in more urgently with her tongue stroking Cana's, making the card mage moan.

Her lips tore away from Juvia's to latch onto a hardened nipple while her delicate hands ran all over Juvia's body. The water mage squirmed happily under her touch, and Juvia let out a hearty moan as Cana's tongue twirled over her peak. Cana moved to the other side to continue her ministrations as her hands traveled lower on Juvia's body. Her nails raked over the bluenette's thighs before she ran her tongue down her torso in a long line, dropping to her knees on the floor. She pulled Juvia closer to the edge of the bed and looked up at her with a coy smile before kissing her inner thigh.

"Please," Juvia whispered again.

"Please what?" Cana replied for the second time that night. She dropped another kiss on the other thigh. "Tell me what you want."

"I want to feel your tongue on all of me. I want you to make me scream," Juvia said. Her hands gripped the sheets, and her blue eyes had taken on a ferocious gleam. Cana's laugh was low and promising as she gave a long lick up the woman's folds. Juvia's head rocked up and she moaned loudly.

"As long as it's my name you're screaming, I'm good with that," Cana whispered. Then, she dove down to flick Juvia's clit with her tongue. She massaged Juvia's thighs with her hands, holding her in place, as her tongue swirled around the tiny bundle of nerves before dipping away to tease at her entrance, repeating the process as she figured out which movements and levels of pressure made the bluenette moan loudest.

Juvia screamed for her when Cana dipped a finger into her. She pumped back and forth, curling her finger slightly as she continued to tease her clit with her tongue. She felt Juvia's legs tensing around her as she added another finger. When Juvia's legs clamped down on her head completely, Cana sucked tightly on her clit and continued pumping her fingers.

The scream was muffled by the smooth thighs covering her ears, yet Cana couldn't help smirking victoriously when she heard her name torn from Juvia's lips. She slowed the pace of her fingers before removing them from the tight space and gave a final flat-tongued lick to her clit as Juvia released her death grip. Cana laid her head on Juvia's thigh and looked up at the stunning bluenette, who was struggling to relearn how to breathe.

Cana slowly climbed up on the bed to lie beside her. She expected Juvia to be down for a while yet, or to be done for the night completely, so she was delightedly shocked when she found herself pinned by the woman. Juvia held Cana's wrists to either side as her blue eyes raked over the woman beneath her.

"My turn," Juvia whispered seductively. Cana couldn't remember ever hearing or seeing anything as remotely sexy as the bluenette poised above her. She could only nod, wide-eyed, as Juvia leaned down to kiss her thoroughly before beginning the next phase in what would be a night of very little sleep for either of them.

* * *

Cana awoke the next morning in her bed with Juvia draped across her naked frame. She brushed a lock of blue hair from Juvia's face and admired her serene expression. Then, panic set in. What had she done? Why had she let things go so far? Juvia was going to hate her. Cana had taken advantage of the drunk woman; she was sure of it. Even if she hadn't been the one to start things, it had been clear that Juvia was in no position to make choices last night.

This was so much worse than the thing with Lucy.

Cana held her breath as the blue-haired woman began to stir. Juvia blinked slowly as she woke up. She smiled as Cana's face came into focus and she snuggled closer to her. Cana felt herself heating up as flashes of memory from the night before crossed her mind.

"Good morning," Juvia whispered happily. Cana finally released her breath.

"Good morning. How are you feeling?"

"Mmmm, Juvia feels wonderful. Juvia would like to stay here with you all day."

Cana laughed. "That would definitely start some rumors at the guildhall."

Juvia sat up so she could look Cana in the eye. Her face had turned stern but also a little fearful.

"Juvia does not care about rumors. Do you wish we had not…If you don't want to be with Juvia, Juvia understands. Juvia merely thought that…" Cana laid a hand on the other woman's lips.

"I was actually more worried about you," she said softly. "Everyone knows I have no interest in men. But you love Gray."

"Juvia doesn't think so," Juvia said, shaking her head. "Juvia told you last night. Juvia is…grateful to Gray for his help, but…Juvia does not believe it is really love. Gray has never made Juvia feel as happy as Juvia did with you last night. As happy as seeing you often makes Juvia."

"That may have been the alcohol," Cana said with a laugh. She tried to ignore the final statement and make light of the situation.

She'd be lying if the thought of a naked Juvia in her bed had never crossed her mind. And maybe she had even thought what it would be like to be the object of the bluenette's slightly obsessive affections, but she always knew it was a lost cause. She tried so hard not to let Juvia see that hope was burning inside of her. She didn't love the water mage. Not yet. But she could. If nothing else, she had realized that with Lucy, it was just a crush all along. Desire looks like love when the lights are dim, after all.

"No," Juvia shook her head vehemently. "Juvia does not believe that. Juvia was not so very drunk as you believe."

"If you're sure," Cana hesitated, trying to find the right words. "Then, would you want to see…where this could go? With us?"

Juvia beamed and brought her lips to Cana's for a passionate kiss.

"That would make Juvia very happy."

* * *

They did make it to the guild. Eventually. They walked in hand-in-hand to only a few interested glances. Most assumed it was a friendly gesture, though Cana thought Gajeel's smirk was a bit more pointed than usual. They settled at Cana's usual place at the bar, and Mira brought them drinks.

A while later, Team Natsu strolled in from their mission. Lucy glared daggers at Natsu while the fire dragon slayer tried to hide behind Gray. This prompted the ice make mage to start brawling with him, even though that was really the whole reason Lucy was pissed to begin with. Giving up on her revenge for now, Lucy's eyes roamed over the guild. She was still a little nervous to see Cana. She knew she had hurt her friend's feelings, but she didn't want it to change things between them. She loved Cana like a sister.

Her eyes finally landed on the card mage talking animatedly with Juvia. The two had barely looked up when Lucy and her team entered. Lucy debated with herself for a while before finally squaring her shoulders and walking up to them.

"Cana, can we talk for a second?" Lucy asked when she reached the bar. Juvia glared at Lucy, and the blonde assumed it had to do with Gray. Again. She was really hoping that the blue-haired woman wouldn't drown her when she and Gray finally told the guild they were dating.

"It's okay, Lucy," Cana said with a small smile. "I shouldn't have pushed my feelings onto you like that. I knew it was a long-shot. Friends?"

Lucy blinked. This wasn't what she had expected at all. Granted, she wasn't sure exactly how the card mage would react when Lucy showed back up at the guild, but this definitely hadn't occurred to her. Lucy's carefully planned speech was totally wasted now.

"Of course," she said with a smile. She turned to Juvia next, prepared to give the other speech she had planned, but Lucy was shocked again when Juvia smiled at her.

"Love Rival is welcome to Gray. Juvia has found someone far more special," Juvia said as she squeezed Cana's hand. It was only now that Lucy realized the two were holding hands on top of the bar with fingers intertwined. Lucy blushed.

"Um, well, great. That's…I'm so happy for you two!" She managed to stammer out. And she really was happy for them. She gave them another smile and a wave before heading to the table where her team had taken up residence once Erza stopped Gary and Natsu's fight.

She had just sat down when a wolf whistle sounded through the guild, followed by general cheering. She looked up to see Cana and Juvia with their lips locked together in front of everyone.

Gray threw an arm around her and whispered in her ear, "Well, that makes things easier."

Lucy giggled and cuddled into her boyfriend's embrace.

Juvia and Cana didn't notice or care that their former crushes were snuggled up in plain view. They were too busy exploring each other's mouths to even notice that they had become the center of everyone's attention.

When they finally came up for air, Cana smiled at her girlfriend. This wasn't love, but it wasn't just lust, either. Sitting there, she made it her mission to learn everything there was to know about the blue-haired mage. She figured they had plenty of time. Right after they destroyed every one of those stupid Gray plush figures littering Juvia's apartment. It could be their first date.


End file.
